Fantasy Football Addict’s Select XI (GW-19)

After a whole day of football, there’s no time to mess about as Gameweek 19 flies in tomorrow (Monday 28th). With 16 of the teams having just a single day to recover, we should expect some rotation and if not, some tired legs taking to the field.

Leicester and Man City are afforded a further day’s rest, whilst Sunderland and Liverpool get 2 days’ rest, the lucky devils. With Gameweek 20 arriving this Saturday, managers will be looking to protect players. At the end of this Christmas period, the last thing any of them will want is a serious injury from over-playing.

So prepare yourself for a few shocks over the next week and get ready for lots more footy action! Anyway, there’s not much time, so let’s move on…

So without further ado, here is our weekly FFA Select XI, where we’ve chosen 11 players in a valid formation who we think will score highly this gameweek…

Goalkeeper

Tim HOWARD [STO(H), 5.1m] – Everton managed to shut out Newcastle on Boxing Day and they’ll look to do the same at home to Stoke, who are bouncing off their own impressive victory. It’ll be a tight encounter between 2 strong sides but Everton will fancy their chances of securing another 3 points.

Defenders

Laurent KOSCIELNY [BOU(H), 6.0m] – Arsenal were brought back to ground with a bang as Southampton hit them for 4 and they’ll want to put things right when they welcome Bournemouth to the Emirates. Without King and Stanislas, Ritchie is the main danger but as shown with Palace, sometimes he isn’t enough.

Scott DANN [SWA(H), 5.6m] – Dann rewarded our selection with a clean sheet against Bournemouth and we’re backing him once more as Palace host Swansea. With Palace missing Bolasie and Wickham, there’ll be a greater emphasis at keeping it tight at the back to provide the base for a positive result.

Alberto MORENO [SUN(A), 5.0m] – Liverpool managed to bring Leicester’s unbeaten run to a halt whilst also preventing them from scoring to showcase a defensive solidity that they’ve been lacking of late. On Wednesday night, they travel to Sunderland hoping to keep this run going, where Moreno might be lucky enough to pick up further bonus points.

Midfielders

Kevin DE BRUYNE [LEI(A), 10.8m] – De Bruyne shrugged off any tiredness doubts to inspire City as they ran out comfortable winners against Sunderland. Rotation remains a slight possibility but in such an important match, Pellegrini will need his best players firing and that includes De Bruyne.

Riyaad MAHREZ [MCI(H), 7.1m] – With Kompany out of the picture once more, Leicester will fancy their chances of penetrating the City defence. Mahrez is the key and has enough talent to cause them all sorts of problems.

Aaron RAMSEY [BOU(H), 8.1m] – Arsenal will be eager to put the Southampton loss behind them and we expect a reaction in front of their home fans. They’ll come out of the blocks firing and Ramsey will be full of running as they put things right against Bournemouth.

Mesut OZIL (C) [BOU(H), 9.9m] – Ozil’s incredible run of attacking returns finally came to an end as the Saints held out but he’ll be eager to get Arsenal back on track as they host Bournemouth. With 3 points being of vital importance, rotation is likely to be limited and Ozil will have his usual backing support at the Emirates.

Strikers

Harry KANE [WAT(A), 9.7m] – Kane continued his goalscoring ways with a tidy brace against Norwich and despite being a slight rotation doubt, Spurs clearly need him for the Watford match. This should be a tasty encounter with goals from two in-form teams.

Romelu LUKAKU [STO(H), 9.3m] – Lukaku’s goalscoring run also came to an end on Boxing Day but he had his chances. He’ll have his work cut out beating Butland but more chances will fall his way and we’re backing Lukaku to find a way past the Stoke defence.

Odion IGHALO [TOT(H), 6.1m] – One player who did manage to continue his run is Ighalo, who found the back of the net with help from a generous deflection to make it 6 goals in 5. Watford are flying high at the moment and Spurs will need to be at their best to stifle the Ighalo and Deeney partnership.